


Love to Ease: Partners

by voleuse



Series: Love to Ease [5]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:34:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25117714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voleuse/pseuds/voleuse
Summary: Five what-ifs for Rey and Ben.5. What if they both had lived?
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Love to Ease [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813729
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	Love to Ease: Partners

**Author's Note:**

> All AUs. Playing fast and loose with cause and effect.

**What if they both had lived?**  
I need a little love to ease the pain  
I need a little love to ease the pain  
It's easy to remember when it came

As their lips parted, Kylo couldn't stop grinning. "I wasn't sure that would work," he whispered.

Rey slid her hands down to the tear in his tunic, where the wound she had given him was neither fresh nor healed, but scarred, as if from long ago. "I don't understand."

"You're so tired," he said, feeling the ache of her limbs as if the power had burned and blistered through both of them, together. Kylo dipped his head and dropped another kiss on her lips, on her jaw, her nose. "We should really find out more about this dyad thing," he said. 

"Whatever it is, I'm glad of it." She leaned back, looked up. "Ben, look." She gestured as if to point, then let her arm drop down again. "I think we're winning."

He couldn't even estimate the number of ships in the sky. "Where did they all come from?" Kylo asked. "Where were they before?"

"I suppose we weren't the only ones with a grudge against Palpatine," Rey suggested. Her hands idled on his chest, as if reassuring herself of his presence.

Kylo clutched her closer, anchoring himself. "We should probably get moving," he said. The ground rumbled beneath them. "Hopefully one of our ships is still there." He braced an arm against the floor and tried to push himself up, but his arm trembled, then gave out. "Okay, this might be harder than I thought."

Rey groaned as she rose to her knees. "Maybe we can use the Force?"

Kylo shook his head. "The only thing I can feel in the Force right now is you." He paused. "I meant that literally."

"We really don't have time to talk about our relationship right now," Rey pointed out.

"Right." 

It took both of them longer to stand upright than they'd tell anybody later. Limping to the airfield wasn't as bad, once they gained enough momentum. In concert, they headed to the X-wing--less likely to be shot at than the TIE fighter. Out of habit, Kylo pulled himself into the pilot's seat. Rey snorted behind him, but didn't protest.

As they settled in, Kylo felt a light touch on the back of his neck. "It's the same for me, by the way."

Kylo looked over his shoulder. "What?"

"The 'only feeling you' thing." Her voice had lowered to a whisper.

"Rey, this isn't the time to flirt with me," Kylo said, stifling a laugh. "I have to fly the ship."

"You mean you can't do both?" Rey leaned forward to look at him. "Maybe I should do the flying."

Kylo opened his mouth to respond, but then part of a gunship crashed a little too close to them. He turned his attention back to lift-off. "Can you see if anyone in the fleet can take us in?"

"On it," Rey said. He launched, weaving to escape debris, and Rey said with relief, "The Falcon's out there."

Kylo grinned. "Then let's go home."

***

After the memorial, Kylo and Rey ascertained that they couldn't reach anybody else--even the Force-sensitive, like Finn--as before. Given how they had expended themselves, however, Maz Kanata suggested they might just be temporarily burned out.

"You need to rest," Maz said. "You will be restored eventually." Then she looked at Kylo sideways. "I'm sure you both will figure out something to pass the time."

There was, of course, no privacy at all at the rebel outpost. And no time: There were more memorials, more shifting of resources, refugees to relocate, and the remnants of the First Order scattered out there in the galaxy. 

"There's so much work to do," Rey said to Kylo, in a moment of relative quiet. "It doesn't seem right that I go off somewhere to just meditate."

Kylo pulled her into his arms, dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "Nobody will question it," he said. "Heroes of the Resistance get a lot of leeway after a war. So I'm told."

Rey tightened her arms around Kylo. "I was thinking," she said, though her voice was a bit muffled against his chest, "maybe we could go to Tatooine. It's out of the way. Luke said his farm was still there."

"You should go." Kylo brushed a hand against the back of Rey's head, fingers tracing the knots of her hair. "I don't think I can."

She pulled away from him. "Why not? You did just as much as I did, and--"

"And I was a leader of the First Order." He looked over her shoulder, at the scattering of people, tinkering with machinery, chatting with friends. "They're only accepting me because I'm Leia's son. Han's son."

Rey sighed. "And you want to do something, to make up for before."

"There are a lot of people still under the Order's thumb," he said. "I can help the Resistance with that."

She frowned. "Then I can--"

"Go to Tatooine and recover. We can talk to each other any time," Kylo reminded her. "And then I'll come to you."

Rey looked at him, solemn. "Promise me."

He matched her gaze. "I promise." He bent his head and caught her lips in a kiss. She looped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. They eventually had to break away and breathe. 

In the distance, somebody called out for Rey. And the sounds of another strategic meeting had started up.

Kylo groaned, dropping his forehead to rest against hers. "We're never going to get any time alone, are we?"

Rey kissed him again and laughed.

***

Chewbacca told everyone he was sealing the Falcon for a while, mentioning something about rewiring and new parts and caulking whatnots.

Coincidentally, nobody could find Rey or Kylo until the next afternoon.

***

They had been together on Tatooine for a few months when Jannah sent a message to them. An extremely Force-sensitive child had emerged in Felucia, and nobody was sure what they should do to help the family. Then a few weeks later, a pair of twins on Naboo.

They tried to avoid landing on the inevitable solution, except. 

"Leia appeared to me in a dream," Rey said as they put supper together. "She was teaching me the old training course, but I was still a child."

"A Jedi started talking to me while I was at the market," he confessed. "I think it was Obi-Wan Kenobi. He said it's up to us to maintain the balance."

They stared at each other for a long moment.

"They're never going to stop, are they?" he asked.

Rey shook her head. "Remember when we could only sense each other in the Force? That was nice."

"Even my uncle didn't figure out what happened to the Jedi records in the Coruscant library."

"And he burned the original texts on Ahch-To."

He blinked. "He what?"

***

The journey to Felucia wasn't an arduous one. Jannah met them when they arrived; it was nice to catch up. She and Lando had become unofficial coordinators for First Order deserters, and their network continued to grow.

The family Jannah wanted them to meet lived on a small farm, not too far from the airfield. Jannah introduced them to the family, then withdrew, promising to meet them later.

Currant, the child they had traveled to see, was only about seven. They were a bit shy at first, clinging to their mother's arm. Then, Rey sat down on the ground next to them. She closed her eyes for the moment, and a few of the child's toys floated upwards, twirling.

The child's mother exclaimed in surprise, and Currant clapped their hands. After that, Currant and Rey launched into a lively discussion of feelings and patience and learning new languages. He often let his gaze linger on Rey, who was revealing a talent for making ridiculous faces.

After a while, Rey encouraged Currant to try and commune with the Force, just a little. After three minutes of very intense silence, then four minutes of peaceful silence, Currant gasped as one of their toys, a small stuffed creature, hopped twice before falling down again.

Currant's mother had many, many questions for them after that. While she and Rey were discussing the best way to integrate training into Currant's life without separating them from the family, Currant turned their attention to him.

He was a bit nonplussed when Currant plunked down next to him on the bench by the wall. He'd been quiet enough that he had hoped Currant hadn't noticed him. "Hey." He did not smile, as Currant was quite solemn. 

"Hello," Currant said. "My name is Currant." They paused. "My name is longer than that, but you can call me Currant." They nodded, then looked at him. "What should I call you?"

He looked up and saw that Rey was watching him, even as she continued her conversation with Currant's mother. She was smiling.

"Ben," he finally said in a rush of breath. "You can call me Ben."

**Author's Note:**

> Title and epigraphs adapted from Massive Attack's [**Dissolved Girl**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABQjT6gDKu0).


End file.
